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Leprachauns are known in Irish folklore as mischevious imps, dressed in green, and with a pot of gold for you if you catch them. The truth, however, is less bizarre. Records show that a group of 3 Chinese tourists arrived in Kilkenny one winter in 1356. unused to fermented alcoholic beverages, they became intoxicated quickly, stripped down to their briefs and greased themselves. They claimed that they would pay a handsome reward to anybody that could catch them.
This soon became an annual event, with the diminutive Chinamen replaced by Gaelic dwarfs, and a pot of gold for the winner of the event.